More Than 50K Without Power As Storm Rocks Rhode Island

Powerful thunderstorms that brought down trees and power lines across Rhode Island have left more than 50,000 people without electricity on Friday morning.

Rhode Island Energy's outage map shows the bulk of the outages are in Providence, Kent and Bristol counties, according to its 8 a.m. update.

Warwick, in Kent County, has the highest number of outages with more than 9,600 customers affected. Warren, in Bristol County, has more than 9,300 outages. In Providence County, Cranston, with more than 8,600 customers out, and East Providence, with nearly 6,500, have the largest outages in that county.

The storm brought trees down on several vehicles, trapping a driver and passenger in one until power lines could be shut off, 12 News WPRI reported.

In Barrington, a tree smashed a garage, GoLocalProv.com reported.

According to the National Weather Service, gusts up to 64 mph were reported in the Warwick area.

There have not been serious injuries reported as of 9:30 a.m.

Rhode Island Energy says its restoration process is as follows and encourages people to sign into their accounts to get updates on when power might be restored:

1. Assess damage and protect the public We must ensure all downed wires are made safe and roads are accessible to restoration crews and the public
2. Repair transmission lines Repair crews first address problems with transmission lines and substations that serve critical customers such as hospitals, public safety facilities, and water treatment facilities
3. Repair substations While transmission lines are being fixed, crews also begin to work on substations and primary lines that serve many customers
4. Repair distribution lines Lines and transformers in neighborhoods (and the wires that connect them to homes and businesses) come next, starting with areas that affect the most customers
5. Connect individual customers After these repairs are finished, crews can restore individual power

You can call Rhode Island Energy at 855-743-1102. Those served by the Block Island Utility District can call them at 401-466-5851.